Monday, November 16, 2009

The Rabbi Doctor Lynn Kesselman

ANd the book of the five gates, not the book of the five rings b myamoto y musashi, also another good read. Book I recently read the Rabbi Doctor Lynn Kesselman's book about his Five Gates philosophy. Its a methodology to discover and uncover the pains locked in the past which have caused problems in my life since that time. My childhood was filled with torment and turmoil. My parents were living in a marriage of connivence and had little love. I was abused sexually by my uncle. At an early age I was sexualized and very sexually active. Later as things progressed, I was teased at school because of my ethnicity. I never felt like I had a place to fit in and consequently found myself a sexual deviant and constantly seeking affection from people who really just wanted me because of my body and not for the beautiful person inside. I was trying to make up for the lack of love that my parents showed to each other, to my siblings, or to my self. Lynn Kesselman's ideas are so straight forward and obvious. The five gates are not an ancient mystery, or some secret waiting to be unlocked. Lynn Kesselman's ideas are easy to digest and very universal. I found these concepts helped me to look into my past and uncover the blocks that I had put in place in order to cope and defend myself through some truly horrific torment and abuse.

Well I may be an obvious candidate for the five gates program... but you might be wondering if it would help you? Let me put an excerpt from the book that I found particularly poignant. Maybe this will help you to understand what Lynn Kesselman is trying to do.

How Do I Know If I Need Recovery? From What?

“Am I happy?” It seems clear that if you are happy you

are not going to want to change anything about yourself.

The key to seeing if you are happy is to ask yourself the followings

questions. “How completely do I enjoy being who

I am right now?” “Do I say or do self‐destructive things?”

“Do I feel anxiety much of the time, even when I am faced

with no important losses?” “Do I have problems getting

myself to do things that my judgment tells me I should be

doing?” “Do I feel lonely and isolated, but can’t get myself

to take any steps to connect with other people?” “Am I

ashamed of being who I am?” “Do I have problems obeying

the law?” “Do I abuse alcohol, other drugs, sex, gambling,

food, or exhibit any other addictive behavior?” “Do I find

myself unable to accept and let go of past disappointments?”

“Do I experience anger, resentment or rage when I

can see they do me more harm than good?” “Have I been

diagnosed with any emotional or mental disorders?” “Do I

tend to alienate people around me or leave them with a

poor impression of who I am?” “Am I frustrated about my

inability to help myself?“

If you have any of these kinds of problems, don’t feel

discouraged about them because you can greatly reduce

these problems and often can free yourself from them

entirely by taking the Five Gates Training Program as it is

found here. Don’t believe anyone who says you can’t.

I hope this might help you! I recommend looking for this book and reading it yourself if you are having a daily struggle to overcome and accept our lives. It can be so tough that you might just want to end it all but, know that there is help. Lynn Kesselman is one person who can give a bit of advice and point you in the right direction so you can follow the spiritual principles so you can learn how to live successfully and understand your life!